Thousands of pro-independence demonstrators rally in Taiwan

TAIPEI, TAIWANâ"Thousands of pro-independence demonstrators gathered in Taiwanâs capital on Saturday to express their disapproval with Chinaâs stance toward their island.

China cut off contact with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wenâs government shortly after her inauguration in 2016 and has been ratcheting up diplomatic, economic and military pressure on Taiwan in a bid to compel her to agree to Beijingâs insistence that the self-governing island democracy is a part of China.

Pro-Taiwan independence activists call for the referendum on the streets in front of the headquarters of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) during a demonstration in Taipei on Oct. 20. Thousands of Taiwan independence campaigners took to the streets for a major rally that is a rebuke to Beijing and a challenge to the islandâs already embattled government.

âI want to loudly say no to China,â said 43-year-old demonstrator Ping Cheng-wen, who is self-employed. âI just donât agree with Chinaâs rhetoric. We have our own sovereignty, and Taiwan is a country.â

Another demonstrator at the rally in Taipei, Kuo Jung-min, an 85-year-old Presbyterian Church pastor and Hebrew language profes sor at Taiwan Theological College and Seminary, said pro-unification advocates should move to China if they think it is a better place to live.

âWe have to be real Taiwanese, not fake Chinese,â Kuo said. âThere is no use being Chinese. Those who advocate pro-unification still live in Taiwan. If China is that good, why donât they just move to China?â

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In an Oct. 10 National Day address, Tsai called on China not to be a âsource of conflictâ and pledged to boost Taiwanâs defences against Beijingâs military threats. Tsai said the best way to defend Taiwan was to âmake it indispensable and irreplaceable to the world,â while remaining nonconfrontational in its attitude toward China.

China and Taiwan separated amid civil war in 1949 and China considers the island part of its territory to be taken control of by force if necessary.